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THE STORY OF CHIEF 



JOSEPH. 



BY 



MARTHA PERRY LOWE. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



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BOSTON: >^^^^i^ASH« 

D. LOTHROP & COMPANY. 

FRANKLIN ST., CORNER OF HAWLEY. 






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Copyright, iS8i, 
By D. Lothrop & Company. 



PRESS OF 

DELAND AND BAETA, 

BOSTON. 



PREFACE. 

The following story is a poetic version of Chief Joseph's narrative, 
as given by Bishop Hare of Niobrarain the April number of the 
North American [Review, 1879. 

Its dignity and pathos seemed worthy of being preserved in a 
form less diffuse and more artistic. 

The author trusts that the story has not lost in power 'by her 
attempt, as she has endeavored to preserve the simple and direct 
style of the Indian. 

If this little book shall do anything to excite sympathy and 
justice for the Red Man, the author will be abundantly rewarded. 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

Good friends, you ask to see my heart ; 

And here it is: I have no art ; 

Some of you think an Indian man 

Is like a wikl beast, to be shot; 

Now I will show you, if I can, 

Whetlier he is a man or not ; 

For what I here shall say to you 

Will come out from ray very heart ; 

I speak with a straight tongue and true. 

And lying has in me no part. 

The eyes of the Great Spirit always see ; 

Ah-cum-ken-i-ma-me-hut looks at me. 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

I am a chief of the Nez Perces band, 

So named by Frenchmen in our hind. 

You call me Joseph. Good, if you like that. 

M}^ true name is In-mut-too-j^ah-lat-lat. 

You'd like to know the meaning of my name ? 

This is the way, they tell me, that it came : 

My mother gave me birth on stormy night : 

It means the thunder on the mountain height 

Between the sudden flashes of the light. 

My father did not leave a single spot 

To stain my noble birthright, not a blot. 

Our chieftains left us many a solemn law, 

That we should give men what they bargained for, 

That we should scorn to tell a lie ; 

They told us the Great Spirit lived on high, 

And had a spirit home above the sky ; 

That he would give a good place to the good. 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 11 

A bad place to the bad : we understood, 

This, I believe ; and all my fathers do. 

Do white men think so too ? 

They never knew that there were other men, 

With whiter faces, till the morning when 

The Frenchmen came among; them lono- ao-o, — 

How long it is you know — 

And brought them pipes and guns, 

Which scared the women and the little ones. 

The good priests told them what Avas true, 

And they were gentle in their speech, 

And fatherly and wise ; 

The trappers told them many lies ; 

They did not like the holy fathers' preach ; 

When first the reverend men tliey saw, 

They told them of the spirit law, 

They said no word about tlie Jand ; 



12 THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

But twenty years ago a stranger band 
Came seeking dwelling-places there, 
For there was room, and some to spare. 



My father had the sharper eye. 

He knew what all this meant, 

Although he made no murmur nor complaint. 

He was afraid of men who buy 

And sell, and talk of loss and gain. 

Next came an officer to make it plain ; 

Our Council sat, that he might show his heart ; 

His business he at length began to tell : 

He said your nation thought it would be well 

To have an Indian country set apart, 

And bade us sign away our right. 

My father puslied him from his sight, 




MY FATHER HAD THE SHARPER EYE. 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 16 

And round tlie room did ungry stalk. 

" What is't you ask ? " and grim he smiled. 

*' It is jour business to come here and talk 

About the spirit matters, not of land. 

You can go where you please, sir, understand, 

And so will I, for I am not a child. 

That you should tell me where I am to walk ! " 

And then they stole around among 

Our men, and tried the flattering tongue. 

They brought us blankets red and blue, 

Our people took them from their hand : 

''Touch not their presents, old or new," 

My father cried with stern command. 

And so he never sold away his land. 

When he at last was old and blind, 

A coward chieftain of our kind 

Gave up the Wallow- Walla ; this we call 



16 THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPii. 

The country of the winding wiiter-falh 
They bade us take our wives and little ones, 
And move along to southern suns. 
And then I took my father's place, 
■ And made my first speech to the white men's face. 
I told them I would never leave the graves 
Where lay our fathers and where sleep our braves. 
My fatlier called me to his dying-bed, 
And warned me, lifting up his head, 
" Behohl tlie white men come around : 
Let them not touch the ground 
Wliere all your fathers sleep." 
His word I vowed to keep ; 
And then he smiled, and went to meet 
The great, good Spirit, Chief of Men. 
I laid him in the glen, 
The winding water at his feet. 




THE COUNTRY OF TIIK WIXDING WATER-FALL. 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 19 

I love the silent spot; 
And he deserves to be forgot, 
Who holds not dear the stones 
Where rests his father's bones. 



We had a little time of rest, 

And then the white men pressed 

■Closer and closer on our path. 

With softest words that fired our wrath. 

We were but few, and tliey a mighty band ; 

We were contented with the land 

Just as it came from the Great Father's hand, 

But they would pull the mountains down 

To make room for the town. 

Tljeir generals came, and harried us with talk, 

And strutted in their walk, 



20 THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

And bade us move our people back 

Along the Reservation track. 

Then Too-hoot-hool-suit answered, " Who are you ? " 

And looked as he would stare them through, 

"That 3^ou should talk, and tell us to keep still? 

Are you the mighty will ? 

Can you create the rivers that we drink, 

Or make the grass grow, do you think ? " 

They sprang and put him under guard. 

My young men could not keep their seat, 

They leaped up to their feet; 

My young braves pressed me hard. 

Such insult they could never brook : 

They would have killed your generals at one look, 

One look from me. I told them to forbear. 

And so they harmed them not a single hair. 




THEN TOO-HOOT-HOOL-SUIT ANSWERED, "WHO ARE YOU?" 



THE STORY OP CHIEF JOSEPH. 23 

I held them still, I kept the peace, 

And got, ere long, our prisoner's full release. 



What for my trouble did I gain? 
Fresh insult. Yes, 'twas all in vain. 
We had the very worst to fear: 
New tidings went from ear to ear. 
We must set out upon our way. 
Our stock was scattered on the plain, 
The river running high and strong. 
We begged to wait the closing year, 
To bring our cows and sheep along. 
They answered, "Let a single day 
Go by beyond the time of grace, 
And we will drive you to your place, 
And all outside shall be our prey." 



24 THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

My young men said that we must fight, 

That blood alone could wash us white 

From such an insult to our race. 

I tried in vain to keep them still : 

The Indian blood would have its will. 

Panting and swift the war to wage, 

They killed four white men in their rage, 

I would have given my very life 

To stop this hateful, bloody strife. 

If you had treated us like men, 

There would have been no war between us then. 



It was too late, and war we had, — 
You know the rest. You were not glad. 
But, for ourselves, this I will say : 
The Nez Perces no women slay. 




KNOW YOU THEIR INSULTS TO THE INDIAN MAID? 



THE STORY OP CHIEF JOSEPH. 27 

Nor little children at their play. 

We scalp our foe man's head, 

And bury decentl^^ our dead : 

You dug our kindred up again, 

And cast dishonor on the slain; 

You cared not where your footsteps trod, 

Mangling the bodies in the sod. 

We held a woman prisoner. 

And never offered wrong to her. 

Can your white soldiers say as much? 

Know you their insults to the Indian maid ? 

Say, were we guilty even once of such? 

Have we a woman's confidence betrayed ? 

I thought of all my little ones. 

Trembling and wild with sudden fright : 

I leapt along the line of guns, 

I forced my way amidst the thickest fight, 



28 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 



And reached my lodgings at a bound. 
My wife ran out, — my gun she found, — 
"Take it, and shoot them down!" she said. 




1 seized tlie gun, and I obeyed ; 
And so the battle raged that day 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 31 

We fought them twenty steps away, 

We fought like tigers, down they dropped, 

And, tired of it, the white men stojjped. 



The next day came a flag of truce, 

They parleyed earnestly with me, 

' Twixt war and peace they bade me choose. 

The generals promised solemnly 

We should go back again and live 

Upon our lands, if I would give 

My arms to them. I thought of all 

My men around, how they might fall : 

The sick and dying came before 

My soul, and smote me to the core. 

And I believed the general's oath, 

So I surrendered to them both. 



32 THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

How did your chieftains keep their troth? 
Not like an Indian, I do swear. 
They stole our cattle roaming there, 
And turned our faces to the bound 
You please to call the Indian Ground. 



They moved us downward from the North. 
New chiefs and captains now came forth, 
And talked and argued without end, 
Each one spoke different from his friend. 
I said, "You gave your solemn word 
That we should not again be stirred." 
Some said, " You cannot now go back, 
The law is following on your track, 
Because your men began the fight." 
I knew not which one had the right, 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 35 

And some said all would come out well: 

Each had a different tale to tell. 

Too many chiefs you sent to me, 

' Twas plain that they did not agree. 

And, while they talked, my people died, 

Sickened, and fell down at my side. 

The land they gave us was not good, 

The little children loathed their food, 

The water made our spirits sink, 

My fainting people could not drink. 

And now, to end it, I have been 

With Yellow Bull to Washington ; 

And I have shaken hands with every one. 

Your Father Chief, and all the mighty men. 

They say that justice shall be done ; 

But words will never give us back our dead; 

Words, empty words, will never pay 



36 THE STOEY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

For all our goods you took away: 
Words will not keep my father's grave, 
And I am sick of all that you have said. 



The great, good Spirit made us two ; 

The same blood is in me and you. 

You might as well expect to see 

The rivers run back to the hills. 

Or chain the little mountain rills, 

As that a being lithe and free, 

An Indian-born, should be content 

Within a patch of forest pent. 

I asked one of your men, a chief. 

If 'twas his true belief 

That white men should go where tliey may, 

And red men in one place must stay ? 



THE STORY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 39 

He dared not answer 3'ea or nay. 

No answer could I ever find 

To questions pressing on my mind. 



I know my race miist soon decay ; 

I know that we shall fade away, 

Unless we march the road you take, 

And drink the knowledge which your thirst doth slake. 

So be it, then : We ask, we ask. 

That you shall set us to your task. 

We will accept it at your hands, 

But give us back our lands ! 

Give us our freedom, give us law, 

And there shall be no war. 

The white and red men shall abide 

As loving brothers, side by side, 

Content and strong and free 



40 THE STOEY OF CHIEF JOSEPH. 

Forever we sliall be ! 

In-miit-too-yah-lat-lat 

Has spoken for his race to-day, 

In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat 

Has finished what he has to say. 



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